How to write a Laboratory Report. Last Name, First Name, Partners Institution (School + Course + Section) Date Abstract A concise paragraph that summarizes the entire report – intro, purpose, results, and conclusion. Include as indicated. Purpose/Hypothesis To…action verb… Intro/Theory As required. Generally, includes the background that leads to the hypothesis Materials and Methods (Procedure) • • • Established or published procedures can be referenced. Note variations or modification from referenced procedures. Avoid obvious information but provide enough detail so a peer could reproduce your results. Results and Discussion • • • Present and discuss the research results. They are often combined into one section because readers can seldom make sense of results alone without accompanying interpretation. Explain specific errors or variation form expected results. DO NOT discuss random errors only error specific to the results. Conclusion • • Refer back to the purpose/hypothesis. Make it a very short summary of the principle findings. End with the most important message that you want the reader to take away. References There are two common methods to order the references • Number references in order of appearance and link as a number (5). • List references alphabetically by author and link with Author (year). [Smith, 1999] Reference Format http://ia.juniata.edu/citation/cse/cse05.htm Tables Numbered Title above Footnotes below. • • • Table 1. Immune cells in the bone marrow Immune cells CD4+ T cells + Percent ~1.5% CD8 T cells 2–2.5% Regulatory T cells (Treg) ~0.5% + CD11c dendritic cells (DCs) 1–2% B cells ~1% Plasma cell ~0.5% Natural killer T (NKT) cells 0.4–4% Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) 0.01–0.1% Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) 20–30% Figures • • • • Includes images, graphs, or any visual data. Numbered Title below Figure legend – explains the figure, sometimes has basic procedure. Figure 1: Genome size is the total number of base pairs in an organism. While the number of genes in an organism's DNA (red bars) varies from species to species (numbers at right), it is not always proportional to genome size (blue bars). Note how many genes a fruit fly can squeeze out of its relatively small genome. More info @ Scitable http://www.nature.com/scitable/ebooks/english-communication-for-scientists14053993/14571219#bookContentViewAreaDivID NOTES: • • • Avoid using first person, I and we but they may be used at the start and end of the report. To test this we… We found that… Include the original data and procedures. These may be added as an appendix at the end of the report. Concise and to the point is much better than long and windy!
